Yeah yeah, another what boat to get thread. My problem is, my garage is very small. I have a Moomba outback LS (Direct Drive) right now, which is 20'8 with a swing tongue and it fits, but only on an angle.

I love my boat, it does the job, puts out a nice wake but I keep adding sacs on the floor which starts to eat into the room of the boat.

I'm thinking of getting a Vdrive, something that gives me a little more interior space and allows me to keep all the ballast hidden in the sides and under the floor. I know there are a few 20' vdrives out there, like the X2 and VTX, but not sure what else. Just looking to see what my options are so I can check them out and see what will be best for me. Something that's actually less than 21' on the trailer would be ideal, then I could actually keep it straight back in the garage.

Please dont reply and tell me I should get a 22-23', its not going to work. No I don't want to rent storage to keep my boat... I keep it at home, I live 5 minutes from the river, and I try and ride as many days as possible.

The width isn't really a problem because I wouldn't be parking in there anyways.. the whole garage is reserved for the boat. I like the X2 because it looks like it has a little more room up front with the picklefork nose, but performance and wake will end up being the deciding factor.

keep in mind height, ease of taking the swim platform off, and not all dealers use the same boat trailers (which mean different lengths)

our garage fits the boat length wise.. however height wise (even with the tower broken down) the boat wouldent fit... letting air out of the tires and using a hitch attached to the car that allowed the boat to sit lower in the front, did the trick!

I would look at a Wakecraft boat for your needs. Below you will find some pros and cons as to why:

Pros - They are a under 21 foot boat with a ton of style and room for such a small boat. Loaded with just about everything you could ask for. If you were to purchase a 09/10 model it comes with 1650 lbs of ballast that is molded into the hull below the deck. Comes with an optional 409 hp PCM motor. Canada has a great dealer network so service is easy.

Cons, For some reason it seems (my opinion only) that it has been given an unfair chance by some. While it is different in looks, that is actually what I liked best. I liked that the guy down the street did not have the same graphics as me. The dealer network is limited in the USA. Unless the dealer has already ordered 1 or they have a demo available for purchase, you will currently be on a wait for 6 weeks since they are not made until there is a buyer usually. The bow is smaller than some boats, because of the size of the cabin.

If I had to choose, it would be between the VTX and the X2..... The X2 has lots of room, and I love the picklefork design.... But, the VTX has to be the best handling V-drive I've EVER driven. It's no direct drive, but it's probably as close as you could get. I'd go drive a few and see what you like.

Also- garage door wise... I had a salesman buddy bring an X2 out to my house and it was about 3 inches too tall to go in a standard 7' garage door. Malibu claims the VTX (and VLX) will go in a 7' door with the newer Illusion XS tower.

I looked at lots of 20' boats for the same reason you state... garage depth: 22'4" in my case. Here are the 20 footers I looked at (in order of preference). Before I start... all these boats are sweet. Inboard boat shopping is an exercise in nit-picking.

1) Malibu Wakesetter VTX - Charlie is right... it handles like a little sports car! But once you add the manual wedge and a trailer tongue that doesn't swing all the way back, it's really 21' on the trailer. You can forget about the power wedge... that thing adds a full 18" to your boat!

2) Mastercraft X2 - The looks of this boat have really grown on me. But I found them to be a bit too pricey, and I really wanted a 98" or greater beam.

3) Calabria Pro V2 - Of the true 20' boats, this one felt the biggest inside... very spacious due to the cab-forward design. Also super affordable for a well built, no frills boat. If you believe the specs, the boat w/out swim platform is only 19' 0" long. I never measured one on the trailer. I just couldn't get comfortable with the shallow depth of the boat.

4) Mastercraft X1 - A classic, but tiny inside. Boat is actually 20'8" long with only a 90" beam.

5) Supra 20SSV - I love the tower and the Z5 cargo rack. But the inside felt smaller than all the other 20 footers. Same story as the X1, it's not a true 20 footer. It's really 20' 8" long with only a 95" beam. I wanted a wider boat. This boat is also very shallow.

6) Tige 20V - I looked closely at this boat during the boat show. I liked the price, but the inside felt very cheap to me. So I dismissed it.

One thing to watch... how long are these boats ON THE TRAILER? The manufactures don't list this and the dealers never know. You have to take your tape measure with you and find out for yourself. Some 20' boats are actually over 21' on the trailer due to wedges, wake plates, and tongues that don't swing far enough back. When I realized this, I stopped worrying about the actual boat length and starting paying closer attention to length on the trailer. My goal was to find the biggest boat that would fit in my 22'4" garage depth... while leaving me some room to get around it. The answer was the MB Team Wide Body... 21' exactly... only 21'4" on the trailer... about the same as the VTX (which I loved), but a full foot longer and 2" wider than the Bu and capable of carrying lots more people. So that's the route I went.

Finally, a good dealer will do a "garage demo" for you. Active Water Sports drove my MB all the way to my house (30 minutes each way) just to be sure it would fit in the garage before I made my final decision. I didn't want any surprises!

Here is how it fits... the front is only an inch from the garage door, leaving me a good foot or more to walk around the back and get to the side door. Not bad for a boat that has the space of 23 footer inside!

Second, what ixfe said. Look at the on-the-trailer length. If you like the added room of the pickle fork design, also look at the F21 Tomcat. We went down from a 23 footer and don't miss the extra length. Here is the inside room of the TWB.

I am test driving an X2 this week. Looking at the boat on the trailer the tongue extends about a foot past the bow. Then after that the swing away part is attached. The dealer said that was due to the width of the pickle fork. The clearance is needed to get the vehicle to boat clearance while turning. My guess is the swing away part can only be so long for strength. I was going to bring a tape measure to check the real length. I am definitely going to measure the height with the tower collapsed. That seems silly to make a boat that a mfg talks about fitting in a garage that doesn't.

I don't know that you could buy a Malibu or Mastercraft for the same price of a Wakecraft. When I first looked into Wakecraft I did the research to find out all about the boat and even talked to the President. Then I wrote all the features down that Wakecraft offered on their standard boat (ZR6) and went to try and buy the same boat from Malibu. It would have cost me $13k more than the cost of the Wakecraft to get all the options that Wakecraft had to offer on a Malibu. The local Mastercraft was even more.

Right now we have an 8 foot garage door and a tandem garage so I can probably fit anything I want in there. I just want it to fit in any garage. James, believe me I have been looking around and Nor Cal is blowing the 08s out. 30K off